CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c#.netlinqsortingsql-order-by
Bala R
Bala R

Reputation: 109027

Custom sort logic in OrderBy using LINQ

What would be the right way to sort a list of strings where I want items starting with an underscore '_', to be at the bottom of the list, otherwise everything is alphabetical.

Right now I'm doing something like this,

autoList.OrderBy(a => a.StartsWith("_") ? "ZZZZZZ"+a : a )

Upvotes: 50

Views: 28709

Answers (3)

Amy B
Amy B

Reputation: 110221

If you want custom ordering, but don't want to supply a comparer, you can have it - sql style:

autoList
.OrderBy(a => a.StartsWith("_") ? 2 : 1 )
.ThenBy(a => a);

Upvotes: 104

Matt Greer
Matt Greer

Reputation: 62057

Use the overload of OrderBy that takes an IComparer, the first Func argument will feed the comparer, and from there you need to compare the strings. First deal with the case of one or both starts with _, and then from there you will probably need to strip the _ and just use the standard string.Compare to sort them beyond the first _

Upvotes: 2

abatishchev
abatishchev

Reputation: 100368

I think you need to use OrderBy(Func<>, IComparer<>) and specify your own Comparer which will implement your custom logic .

Upvotes: 6

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